How to Research at the National Archives of Nepal: A Step-by-Step Guide

The National Archives of Nepal (Rashtriya Abhilekhalaya) is the country's central repository for manuscripts, historical documents and government records. It sits on Ramshahpath in central Kathmandu and operates under the Department of Archaeology, historically within the Ministry of Education and later the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The institution traces its origin to the Bir Library, the royal collection assembled from around 1900; a formal decision to create a national archive was announced in 1959 (2015-16 BS), and the Bir Library was reorganised and renamed the National Archives in 1967 (2023-24 BS).

The core of the collection is its manuscripts: tens of thousands of original texts (commonly cited at more than 35,000 items) written on palm-leaf, birch-bark and coloured Nepali handmade paper, some in gold and silver ink. The holdings span Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Tibetan traditions in Sanskrit, Newari (Nepal Bhasa), Nepali, Maithili and other languages. Alongside manuscripts, the Archives keeps historical government documents such as lal mohar (red-seal royal decrees), sanad, tamsuk and land records that are essential primary sources for historians and genealogists.

For the working researcher, the most important resource is the microfilm collection. Because the fragile originals are rarely handled, most texts are consulted as microfilm through the reading facilities of the Microfilm Section. The Archives also runs a Conservation Laboratory that carries out fumigation, repair and binding, and it maintains a reference library on site.

Most manuscript research in Nepal runs through a decades-long German-Nepali partnership. The Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) operated from 1970 until March 2001 and, over roughly three decades, microfilmed an enormous share of Nepal's surviving manuscripts. By its close it had filmed on the order of 180,000 manuscripts amounting to several million folios, and the negatives and positives are centralised at the National Archives in a purpose-built Microfilm Building. As a result, the National Archives holds what is widely described as the world's largest microfilm collection of South Asian manuscripts.

When the preservation phase ended, cataloguing began. The Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project (NGMCP), based at the University of Hamburg's Asia-Africa Institute and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), was launched in April 2002; a formal Agreement of Cooperation with the National Archives was signed in Kathmandu on 16 August 2002. Its goal is a detailed descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts the NGMPP filmed, focusing on Sanskrit, Newari, Nepali and other Indian-language material.

For planning your visit, the NGMCP catalogue is the key finding aid. The project has published an online index covering more than 100,000 manuscripts and a growing descriptive catalogue giving fuller detail (title, author, incipit and explicit, dating and material) for tens of thousands of items. Search the catalogue first, note the NGMPP reel and manuscript numbers for the texts you want, and bring those references with you so staff can retrieve the correct microfilm quickly.

The National Archives is a working government office, not a tourist attraction, so plan around official hours: it generally opens Sunday to Friday, closed on Saturdays and public holidays, with shortened hours in the winter schedule and on Fridays. Because timings and internal procedures change, phone ahead or check the official website before travelling, and allow a full morning for a first visit.

Come prepared. Bring a government photo identity document (citizenship certificate for Nepalis, passport for foreign scholars) and, where possible, a letter of introduction or affiliation from your university, institution or supervisor stating your research topic. Foreign researchers in particular are often expected to show an institutional letter or, for extended access, may be asked to route their request through a Nepali university or the relevant authorities, so arrange this in advance.

Do your catalogue homework before you arrive. Use the NGMCP descriptive catalogue and index to build a precise wish-list of texts with their NGMPP reel and manuscript numbers, plus any known title, author and date. Arriving with exact reference numbers is the single biggest time-saver, because staff retrieve microfilm by these identifiers rather than by browsing.

On arrival, report to the reception or the reading-room desk and explain your research purpose. You will typically be asked to record your details in a visitor or reader register and to present your identity document and introduction letter. Ask staff whether a reader's card or day pass is required and how the reading room operates that day.

To call up material, you submit a request slip. Historically the Archives has used a printed application form bearing a five-rupee revenue stamp (ticket) on which you write the exact manuscript or microfilm you want; the form is passed to the relevant section, which then locates and delivers the item to you. Fill in the reel and manuscript numbers precisely, and list alternatives in case an item is unavailable. Fees, stamp requirements and forms can change, so confirm the current procedure at the desk.

Handling is restricted to protect the collection. Expect to consult texts as microfilm on the Microfilm Section's readers rather than as originals; direct access to fragile originals is limited and granted only for specific scholarly reasons at the Archives' discretion. Follow reading-room rules on bags, food, ink and photography, and be patient, since retrieval from the stacks or film store can take time.

Once you have identified the manuscripts you need, you can usually order reproductions rather than transcribing everything on site. The Archives and its microfilm partners have long supplied copies of filmed manuscripts to bona fide researchers, traditionally as microfilm or paper prints and increasingly as digital scans. Copies are provided against a written request and a per-folio or per-item charge, and turnaround can take days to weeks depending on the order.

Copying rules exist to balance access with preservation and intellectual-property concerns. Reproduction of complete manuscripts may require justifying your scholarly need and agreeing to conditions on use, acknowledgement and republication. Always ask the Microfilm Section for the current price list, the accepted request format and whether digital delivery is available, and keep the reel and manuscript numbers on every order so the correct film is copied.

When you publish, cite the manuscript by its National Archives accession or NGMPP reel and exposure numbers and credit the National Archives of Nepal (and the NGMCP catalogue where you used it). Accurate citation is both a scholarly norm and a courtesy that helps the next researcher locate the same source.

For rare printed books and a smaller but remarkable manuscript collection, the Kaiser Library (Keshar Pustakalaya) is the natural complement to the National Archives. Housed in the Keshar Mahal palace off Kantipath (near Thamel), it was built in 1907 by Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana for his son Kaiser Shumsher Rana, and the family collection was handed to the government and opened to the public in 1969.

The library holds tens of thousands of books, periodicals and documents alongside rare manuscripts, including palm-leaf texts on Buddhism, Tantra, astrology and medicine. Its most famous treasure is an early copy of the Sushruta Samhita, an ancient Sanskrit medical text inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The atmospheric reading rooms of the old palace also make it a favourite of general readers.

Access is straightforward compared with the Archives: the Kaiser Library is a free, public government library open to all, generally Sunday to Friday with shorter winter and Friday hours, and closed on Saturdays and holidays. For rare and manuscript material you may need to ask a librarian and observe handling rules, so state your research interest at the desk.

For material specifically in the Nepali language, the essential library is the Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya (MPP) at Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur. Founded in 1955 (2011-12 BS) and grown from the boyhood collection of scholar Kamal Mani Dixit (1929-2016), MPP describes itself as the memory bank of the Nepali language and administers the prestigious Madan Puraskar literary prize.

Its holdings are unmatched for modern Nepali print and documentary heritage: tens of thousands of books and periodicals, thousands of rare photographs and ephemera, audiovisual material, and a manuscript collection that includes roughly 700 Nepali-language manuscripts, a portion of which have been digitised. This makes MPP the first stop for researchers working on Nepali literature, journalism, social history and the development of the language itself.

MPP is a private, non-governmental trust, so access conventions differ from the state archives. It welcomes researchers but you should contact the library ahead of your visit, explain your project, and ask about reading-room hours, membership or reference fees, and rules for consulting rare and digitised items. Combining MPP for Nepali-language sources, the Kaiser Library for rare books, and the National Archives for manuscripts and microfilm gives most researchers full coverage of Nepal's documentary heritage.